The Courtships of Kuonji Ukyo
by Ghost in the Machine
Summary: Five years after Children of the Heart, Ukyo finds herself at another of life's crossroads. She's always said she would never marry. Does she still mean it? There are some folks who would like to know.
1. Defining the Moment and Other Stuff

The Courtship(s) of Kuonji Ukyo

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and the characters associated with it belong to Rumiko Takahashi and whomever she has sold the rights to. Any characters you don't recognize belong to me, for whatever that's worth. This work of fanfiction is not intended for monetary gain, but was written just for the fun of it.

Author's Note: This story begins five years after the epilog to "Children of the Heart". So if you haven't read that, then this story might not make too much sense. Ranma and company are now 25 years old. Figure everyone else's age from there.

-----

Chapter 1: Defining the Moment and Other Stuff

Kuonji Ritsuko leapt out of bed with the enthusiasm that only a little girl having her fifth birthday can possess. She hurriedly dressed and was soon racing down the hallway to her mother's room. It was going to be a very special day.

Later on, there would be a party with presents, food, presents, games, presents, fights and presents. She'd get to play with her sister (half-sister some said, but Ritsuko knew better), brother (half-brother, although she didn't argue that one) and what she referred to as 'sorta-cousins'. (Ritsuko's definition of 'family' would have shocked the average genealogist. But then, so would her family.)

But there was something else that she felt was even more important. She was five now. It was finally the day that Mama would teach her to make okonomiyaki.

"Mama-san! Mama-san! Get up! Get up!" Ritsuko cried as she burst through the door to her mother's bedroom.

Ukyo forced her eyes open far enough to glance at the alarm clock. She suspected it lied by displaying 7:03 AM. She'd stayed longer than intended at the dojo the night before. Getting ready for tournament season was always a pain. But the sheer expectation showing in Ritsuko's face was more than enough to banish any tiredness Ukyo felt.

"Happy Birthday sprout. How old are you now?"

Ritsuko directed an 'adults are weird' look at her mother. But then, she wasn't old enough to understand sarcasm or rhetorical questions. She eventually said, "Five."

"Hmm... Five... Five... There was something I was supposed to do when you turned five. What was it?"

"You know," Ritsuko said with a little girl giggle.

"Give you a bath?"

"No," the young girl answered while shaking her head.

"Give you a hug?" Ukyo asked, holding out her arms hopefully.

"No," Ritsuko replied as she leapt into her mother's embrace.

"Sure it wasn't a hug? You give pretty good hugs." Ukyo felt her daughter squeeze harder. "Wait! I remember. When you turn five, I'm supposed to teach you how to make rice balls!"

"Mama-san!" Ritsuko wailed impatiently. Aunt Kasumi had taught her rice balls _months_ ago.

"Takoyaki? Ramen? Wait a second, those can't be right. Hmm... Don't I run a restaurant of some sort?" Her daughter frowned unamusedly, refusing to rise to the bait. "Oh, you're no fun anymore," Ukyo said in a mocking tone.

"Will you teach me like Grampa taught you?"

"Well... I learned on your Grampa Kuonji's yattai sweetie. But I think since we've got a real kitchen handy, we'll use that instead," Ukyo informed her daughter who nodded in response.

Since the restaurant was closed for the day, Ukyo felt she had enough time to explain everything that went into making a very basic okonomiyaki. Her daughter was a very fast learner, just like her father and half-sister.

"Now honey, you're not going to make okonomiyaki right away. First we're going to fry some eggs for breakfast and work our way up from there," Ukyo explained.

"Mama-san," Ritsuko complained, "I see you an' Aunt Kasumi an' Aunt Joji an' Uncle 'Natsu an' Grammy Sa'tome an' everybody cook all the time. I'm not a baby." Ukyo knew it was not a coincidence that 'Aunt Akane' had been left off that list. Ritsuko was only five as of that morning, but she was old enough to know that Akane's cooking wasn't nearly as good as the people she had named.

Ukyo knew what the problem was. Her daughter wanted to start at the top without demonstrating mastery of the basics. Which in her opinion was still one of Akane's major problems with cooking. In order to demonstrate this point, she decided to give her daughter enough rope to hang herself. "Well, I still want two eggs over easy for breakfast pumpkin. But since you're a big girl, you can make them."

Ritsuko didn't say anything, but instead got to work. Plates were taken from the cupboard, eggs and butter removed from the refrigerator, and a few miscellaneous utensils were gathered. A small section of the grill was turned on. Ritsuko washed her hands before using a spatula to place a pat of butter on the cooking surface.

Once the butter melted came the hard part. Five year old hands simply weren't large enough to crack eggs the way adults could. But she managed well enough, flicking an errant piece of eggshell into the trash before it could become a problem. At the proper time, Ritsuko flipped the eggs. Moments later, she made the transfer of eggs from grill to plate with a smooth motion that looked _practiced_ to her mother's eyes.

"Well squirt, if I didn't know better, I'd say you've done this before," Ukyo observed coolly as she took the plate from her daughter. Ukyo had made it perfectly clear to Ritsuko's many would be teachers that her daughter was not allowed to work with a live grill unless Ukyo was present.

"Daddy said to make it a kata."

"That does sound like your father."

-----

Tendo Ranma rolled out of the bed he shared with his wife. Not that Akane was actually there. Since their marriage six years earlier, Ranma had discovered that his wife simply needed less sleep than he did. By the time Ranma finished his morning routine, Akane had already been up long enough to run five kilometers, clean up, start breakfast, wake Ranko and Kenichi and greet her father as he arrived to teach the first class of the morning. (Of course, in emergencies, which were still far too frequent for his taste, sleep became the luxury it had been during his formative years.)

As he entered the dining room, Ranma could smell miso soup cooking in the kitchen, hear the 'Ki-ya's' of students from the dojo, see his son Kenichi coloring a picture of a dinosaur and feel the tackle-hug that was his daughter Ranko's normal form of greeting.

"How's my girl?" Ranma asked of the small red-head that was doing her level best to force the air out of her father's lungs.

"I hit Grampa Tendo when we was sparrin'", Ranko said proudly as she squeezed harder.

Ranma glanced over at his wife and son, who both nodded affirmatively.

"Dad was on his knees and defending with only one hand," Akane stated as she set the table.

"Really?" Ranma observed cynically as he pried himself loose from his daughter. "Well Ranko-chan, from now on he uses both hands. Got it?"

"Uh huh," his daughter replied.

With that, Ranma set Ranko down and turned his attention towards his son. Once again, to his disappointment, he didn't feel the spark of connection with Kenichi that he did with his daughter. There was no question that he loved his son and was loved by him in return. But there just seemed to be something... off... in their relationship.

Ranma complimented his son's artistic effort before sitting at the head of the chabudai. "Anything on the schedule today besides Ritsuko's birthday party?" Ranma asked his wife as she served a breakfast of miso soup with rice.

"The Iron Duke and his men are due before lunchtime," Akane replied.

"Besides them."

"I don't th-"

Akane's response was interrupted by the challenge bell. Ranko and Kenichi both scrambled away from the table and raced to the dojo proper. Challenges could be just as much fun as a visit from one of Daddy's friends.

-----

Mu Tzu, or Mousse as his name was pronounced locally, walked unhurriedly through the warm September sunshine toward Nerima. At one time, he had lived in the building that was his destination. Once, Ukyo's As You Like It had been the Cat Cafe. He'd lived there for over a year in it's previous incarnation. But it had never felt like home.

'Home' had always been an elusive concept for Mousse. His near-blindness kept the Joketzu village from feeling like home during his formative years. Elder Cologne, rest her soul, had not made his stay at the Cat Cafe a picnic. When she'd kicked him out to keep Shampoo from killing him in a jealous fit over getting his Jusenkyo curse cured, it hadn't helped. But it was Shampoo's pronouncement of exile the day Cologne died that guaranteed 'home' would not be in China for Mousse. Life since then had provided many things, but never a feeling of 'home'.

Crossing the unmarked border between Toshima and Nerima, Mousse made an effort to banish depressing thoughts from his mind. It wasn't difficult. There were positive things that had happened over the years. His curse was long gone. Decent ophthalmic care (and two surgeries) had improved his eyesight immeasurably. Certainly not last or least, he liked being "Uncle Mousse" to an ever growing number of children.

That list was getting fairly lengthy. There was Ritsuko, Ranko and Kenichi. Plus Kasumi and Tofu's girls Kin and Chizu and finally, all _five_ of Ryoga and Akari's kids. Being called "Uncle Mousse" by the younger students at the Tendo/Saotome School of Martial Arts wasn't quite the same, but still felt good.

Mousse ran through a mental checklist of the magic tricks he planned to perform at Ritsuko's party as he walked. When that review was complete, his attention was drawn by a sight that would have been considered odd anywhere other than Nerima. A handsome, dark haired man in his mid-twenties was carrying a forklift load of lumber and other building supplies on his muscular shoulders. The burden didn't seem to be bothering him much.

"Oi! Ranma! Let me give you a hand with that," Mousse called as he hurried over.

With a shrug, Ranma propelled his load into the air, spun a quick 180 degrees and recaught everything without difficulty. Like many things he did, it was showy, but effective. "Hey Mousse. You walkin' to Ritsuko's party?"

Mousse gestured wide enough to take in half of Japan. "Look around. Why take the subway on a beautiful day like this?" Eight years ago, that statement would have tempted Fate. Fortunately, Fate had found other things to do with her time.

"Glad you decided to come," Ranma said. With somewhat more than a minimum of showmanship, the two divided the load and proceeded toward the Tendo/Saotome dojo at a brisk walk.

"I take it you had another 'messy' challenge," Mousse observed.

"Yeah," Ranma admitted. "It's like a rule or sumthin'. The weird ones show up whenever, but the ones that really wreck the place only show up when we're gettin' ready for tournament season."

"Maybe that is not a coincidence," Mousse stated using his 'Inscrutable Chinese' voice.

"Oh c'mon," Ranma snorted in response. "Even I'm not _that_ paranoid."

"Perhaps you should be. It might have saved you some grief back in the old days."

Ranma grunted in acknowledgement and glanced at his watch. "We better get a move on. I got another challenger due any minute."

-----

The Iron Duke glanced around to make sure no one was looking before removing his iron mask long enough to wipe the perspiration off his face with a fold of his cape. If his men noticed the break in protocol, none were stupid enough to say anything about it. As dramatic and awe inspiring as it was, on sunny days his armor did tend to get a bit warm.

He and his men had already circled the compound to get to the challenger's entrance. The Tendo/Saotome School of Martial Arts was quite, almost unreasonably, strict about challenges. If you rang the bell and made a proper entrance, Tendo or his designates would fight under whatever rules you proposed. Any other way, you were fair game to be taken out via any method by anyone who happened to be there at the time. The fact those methods tended be as painful as they were diverse quickly taught most challengers to 'play fair'.

The Iron Duke strode to the bell rope and heaved mightily. He was rewarded, not with a loud ring, but with a short length of rope at his feet. Not to be deterred by this setback, the Duke strode forward and knocked upon the door with his iron clad fist. Once and for all, he would prove that he, and not Tendo Ranma, was the undisputed champion of Anything Goes Martial Arts Needlepoint.

Akane, looking somewhat disheveled, pulled open the door. Behind her, the Duke could see numerous large holes in the dojo's walls. One corner of the building sagged, indicating hidden structural damage. Debris was scattered throughout the yard, but was being gathered into piles by Kenichi. (Ranko having reluctantly gone to school.)

"I take it that I'm going to have to reschedule Saotome-san?" the Iron Duke asked politely in his flawless Japanese.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble. It will take us a few days to put the dojo back in order," Akane explained.

"Pardon any rudeness in my inquiry, but what happened?"

"We had a challenge from Slavko Marakovic, Master of Anything Goes Martial Arts Bell Ringing," Akane explained as she ushered the Duke and his men into the Tendo/Saotome compound. "It was very noisy and surprisingly messy."

"They did all this damage fighting with bells?" the Duke asked incredulously. His detractors could say what they like about Martial Arts Needlepoint, but at least there wasn't much collateral damage involved.

Akane held her hands up a bit more than shoulder width apart. "Really big bells. Marakovic tried to grab the challenge bell as a trophy. I haven't had a chance to put it back up yet."

"I see... And your husband?"

"After it was over, Ranma went to the lumberyard to pick up repair supplies."

"Hmm... Very well. Would next Saturday be acceptable?"

Akane shook her head negatively. "Next Friday would be better. We've got student evaluations all next weekend to get ready for tournament season."

"Next Friday it is then," the Duke stated agreeably. "Since they are already here, I'll have my men clean up the mess." With a wave of his hand, he set his minions into motion.

"That will be a great help. Thank you very much. May I get you some tea?" Akane asked.

With a flourish, the Duke pulled a thermos from under his cape. "No thanks, brought my own." He'd drunk Akane's tea before.

'One tiny little mistake and they never let you live it down,' Akane angrily thought to herself. She was a woman who tried her best. It wasn't like she was a professional chef.

-----

Ukyo glanced into the bathroom to gauge the progress of Ritsuko's post okonomiyaki making lesson bath. Her daughter insisted that she was old enough to bathe herself and Ukyo agreed. But that didn't mean she wouldn't pop in long enough to check things anyway. Ritsuko noticed her mother's presence and stuck out her tongue. Ukyo responded by sticking out her own tongue, putting her right thumb to her nose and wiggling her fingers. Ritsuko giggled and Ukyo, satisfied that her daughter was fine, left the bathroom and headed downstairs.

Normally, the lunch rush would have been well underway at that point. Fortunately, the 'Closed for Private Party' sign kept all but a few illiterate souls... er, hungry customers away. Instead of a loud and lively crowd eating okonomiyaki cooked by her, Kasumi, Konatsu, or Joji (in order of proficiency), the place was unnaturally silent.

Ukyo drank in the silence that she knew would not last. She didn't know if she enjoyed the quiet or if it bothered her. The combined demands of motherhood and business left too little quiet in her life to make decisions about. 'Maybe things will settle down when Ritsuko starts school next March,' Ukyo thought.

Further introspection was prevented by a knock on the door. Ukyo glanced through a window and saw that despite the fact the party wouldn't start for hours, the first guest had arrived. Ukyo put on a smile she wasn't sure she felt and opened the door for Saotome Nodoka.


	2. Assembling the Pieces and Other Stuff

Chapter 2: Assembling the Pieces and Other Stuff

Nodoka looked around the restaurant and decided she'd arrived just in time. Her granddaughter's birthday party would begin in a few hours and as far as she could tell from her cursory scan, nothing was ready. It simply would not do. It would not do at all.

"Please come in Mother Saotome," Ukyo said as politely as she could manage. The term 'Mother' was only because Nodoka insisted and it wasn't worth arguing about.

Nodoka allowed herself to be ushered into the closed okonomiyaki restaurant before putting down the fancily wrapped gifts she had brought on a convenient table. "Well Ukyo-chan, I thought I would arrive a little early in case you needed some help," Nodoka said reasonably. She already knew how the rest of the conversation would play out. Ukyo would claim she didn't need help. Nodoka would insist. Ukyo would politely refuse. Nodoka would insist again while mentioning some detail that the mother of her granddaughter had obviously missed. Ukyo would relent and Nodoka would mark yet another point on her personal tally sheet.

Over the years, Ukyo had learned a little bit about the way Nodoka's mind worked. "Why thank you so very much Mother Saotome. I just knew I could count on your assistance."

"Ah..." Nodoka extemporized. This wasn't the plan. It wasn't anything like the plan. How dare Ukyo not follow the plan.

"The decorations are in the storeroom on the top shelf. I don't know why Konatsu keeps putting them up there. While you're getting those, I'll get Ritsuko dressed and bring her down." Ukyo added a mental notch to her own tally sheet and vanished up the stairs before Nodoka could respond.

Nodoka's minor fit of pique was washed away by the mention of her granddaughter. She loved all of her grandchildren and seldom missed a chance to see them. Those visits had become even more frequent after Genma left on a ten month training journey with two of Ranma's more promising students (and adult supervision).

Upon entering the storeroom, Nodoka found the box that Ukyo had indicated. It was clearly marked, on the top shelf and definitely out of her reach. There was no ladder. 'Not that Konatsu, Ukyo or probably even Ritsuko would need one', she realized.

Nodoka unwrapped the bundle she habitually carried. The contents were not what they once were. Instead of the Saotome Clan honor sword, she brought out a ornately carved length of wood. The sword had been entrusted to Ranma after the birth of her grandson. But missing its accustomed weight, Nodoka soon obtained a replacement. The piece of hardwood had proved far more useful than the sword had ever been.

Using her staff as a prod, Nodoka knocked the box off the top shelf and caught it neatly. 'I could never have done that with the clan sword. Honor would forbid,' Nodoka thought. 'It is truly amazing how much simpler life is without it.'

Rewrapping her staff, she picked up the box of decorations and returned to the dining room. Suddenly, she heard the sounds of little feet pounding down the stairs and turned just in time to see the door leading to the building's living quarters fly open. With a good idea of what was to come, she quickly dropped the box of decorations on the counter top.

"Grammy Sa'tome!" Ritsuko shouted as she leapt.

Nodoka's eyes widened as she braced for impact. Definitely a new distance record for the child's 'flying hug' which caused Nodoka to sigh internally. Ritsuko and Ranko's excessively athletic greetings were simply not ladylike and neither Akane or Ukyo seemed willing to end the practice. Something would have to be done and _she_ would have to do it. But at that particular moment, there was a granddaughter to greet.

"I am glad to see you too Ritsuko-chan," Nodoka said in a cutesy voice. She wasn't lying, but certainly would have been happier had Ritsuko been dressed in something other than okonomiyaki seller's clothes. A nice floral kimono like her own perhaps. Gently disengaging from Ritsuko, Nodoka spared a glance for Ukyo. As usual, a mixed bag of thoughts and emotions crossed her mind. For what was certainly not the first time, Nodoka asked herself, 'Why couldn't that girl just be a proper mistress to my son?'

-----

Ranma and Mousse arrived at the Tendo/Saotome School of Martial Arts with the repair supplies just as the Iron Duke's men finished cleaning up the mess created by an earlier challenge. They'd done a creditable job, even bracing the sagging corner of the dojo to take the strain off the roof.

The Iron Duke was an anomaly among Ranma's regular group of challengers. Where others used brute force, the Iron Duke preferred finesse. Where others appeared from nowhere and roared out their challenges, the Duke made appointments and followed protocol to the letter. Where others wrecked the dojo, he had defended it more than once. While Ranma never doubted the Iron Duke's determination to be recognized as champion of his particular art, the rivalry between them remained friendly.

But it wasn't friendship. The blonde Englishman always maintained a sense of detachment, of aloofness. By choice, he remained on the outside looking in. It was if the armor he wore wasn't the only barrier between the Iron Duke and the rest of the world. Ranma didn't understand it, or even worry about it, but he accepted it.

As he set down his burden, Mousse sized up the Iron Duke, who, having prior Nerima experience, returned the favor. Ranma put down his own load and decided that introductions were in order before anything drastic happened. "Mousse, this is the Iron Duke. Iron Duke, this is my friend and former rival, Mu Tzu. Everybody calls him Mousse."

The Iron Duke bowed with dramatic flair. "Ah, so you're Mousse. Your reputation, and let me assure you it is a good one, precedes you. I am honored to finally meet you."

Mousse reflexively bowed in return. "Thank you... Iron Duke is it? What are you the Duke of?" Duke was unusual Mousse thought. Most of the 'nobles' Ranma fought were princes. Princes that tended to kidnap Akane for reasons he never understood.

"I am the Duke of Chichester."

Mousse waited, but no further details were presented. In order to restart the conversation, Mousse said, "Ranma told me on the way here that you are a master of Martial Arts Needlepoint." He'd never heard of it before. It sounded a rather odd type of martial arts in which to seek mastery.

"I am," the iron clad man stated before continuing, "as you are a master of weapons."

"I'm a master of _hidden_ weapons," Mousse replied confidently. He wasn't getting any sort of vibe off this 'Iron Duke'. The guy couldn't have much.

"Hidden weapons? I assume you're talking about the throwing spikes in your hair, the claws in your shoes, the collapsible staff and other stuff strapped to your chest under your robe and the fishhooks and fishing line wrapped around your ears?"

Mousse had the decency to look nonplused. It wasn't often that people spotted even one of his conventionally hidden weapons. "OK. You're better than I thought. But I wasn't talking about those."

"Oh... You're talking about the training potty, spiked chains, polearms, hair dryer, strap on claws, kitchen sink, smoke bombs, great big round thing and other stuff you've stored in your personal quantum space then."

"How did you know..." Mousse trailed off.

The man sighed heavily. "I am cursed with an understanding greater than my skill," he explained before adding, "Mind you, Tendo here has a skill greater than his understanding."

"Hey!" Ranma objected. Behind him, where he could not see, Kenichi smiled. The child may not have understood the particulars, but certainly knew when his father got scored on.

"I merely call them as I see them Tendo."

"Yeah, right," Ranma grunted as Mousse quietly chuckled.

The Duke noticed his men lounging around the Tendo/Saotome compound. They talked amongst themselves in small groups, except for one man who comtemplated the fish in the koi pond. "Seeing as my retainers have finished cleaning up, I believe it is time to leave," the Duke said. His minions quickly took up formation behind him in response to an elaborate one-handed gesture.

"What about our fight?" Ranma inquired. Damage or no damage, he was willing to protect the reputation of his school.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Your lovely wife has rescheduled our match for next Friday morning. Please _try_ to have the dojo ready by then."

Since it was just after noon on Saturday, Ranma knew he could easily repair the dojo before Friday morning. The hard part would be keeping some other challenger from wrecking it again prior to the match. "Uh... sure," Ranma answered before asking, "Hey, where's Akane?"

"I believe she went to retrieve your daughter from school," the Duke replied. With elaborate goodbyes, bows and other courtesies, the Iron Duke left with his men.

"Well, he's certainly polite enough," Mousse observed afterward.

"Yeah," Ranma acknowledged. "I just wish I knew what he was really up to."

"Huh?"

A thoughtful look crossed Ranma's face. "It's just a feelin' I've got. It's like he's in Nerima for some reason and fights me just as an excuse ta stick around."

"Maybe he is just inherently nice," the former duck-boy theorized. "Do you have a reason to think otherwise?"

"Nothing solid. But the only person who's that nice is Kasumi."

-----

After each of her pregnancies Akane worked like a demon to regain her figure, martial arts skills and pre-pregnancy weight. Ukyo's active lifestyle also lead to a quick return to 'normal' after the birth of Ritsuko. Kasumi had not been so lucky. She hadn't lost all the weight she'd gained carrying Kin when she'd become pregnant with Chizu. Then some of the weight from _that_ pregnancy refused to go away, even after a year.

The fact that her husband thought those 'extra' four kilos rounded out his wife's body nicely seemed to escape Kasumi's notice. Her ability to 'not notice' things was occasionally mistaken for being oblivious. She wasn't, being neither forgetful or unmindful. When Kasumi chose not to notice something, it was usually in an attempt to be polite.

It was the other times that occasionally caused problems. Kasumi didn't like having her world view challenged. She could 'not notice' the problems caused by Ranma's fiancees and Akane's mistrust because she 'knew' that the two loved each other. She could 'not notice' Tofu's love and devotion until the man basically walked up and smacked her in the face with it. So the stubbornness which she shared with her sisters, although expressed in her own unique manner, could work for or against her. Unfortunately in this case, it meant Kasumi could 'not notice' that her husband didn't mind the weight she had put on because she 'knew' she should weigh four kilos less.

All of which explained why Kasumi couldn't decide what to wear to Ritsuko's birthday party. Everything in her closet made her look fat. In her own eyes at least. Frustrated, she settled on a blue and white striped sundress that she knew was easy to clean. With the number of children, and adults who occasionally acted like children, expected at the party, it would be the safest bet.

Dressing, once the choice was made, took only a few minutes. Getting her daughters ready for travel took much more effort. Diapers for both girls, baby powder, wet wipes, a few toys, a changing blanket, formula, animal crackers plus some odds and ends went into the diaper bag. Ritsuko's gifts from the Ono family were already hidden in Ukyo's bedroom closet. Then came the task of getting Kin and Chizu dressed and put in the stroller. Eventually, Kasumi and her daughters were ready to go.

"Tofu-darling, we're leaving for Ukyo's now. Are you sure you can't come with us?" Kasumi asked from the doorway of her husband's office.

Barely looking up from the medical chart he held, Tofu replied, "My apologies Kasumi-dearest, but I'm booked solid this afternoon. If there are no emergencies, I'll be there as soon as office hours are over."

Kasumi accepted the answer, even if she wasn't pleased by it. Emergencies in Nerima were still common, if not nearly as frequent as they had been during the hey-day of Ranma and Akane's sophomore year. She would simply hope for the best and if her husband could come to the party, he would. Tofu liked to spend time with his daughters.

This was considered odd in some circles. Traditional Japanese roles required her husband to be the family breadwinner while everything else was her concern. But she would not allow the father of her children to be some remote being that only dealt with his girls on special days and worked to excess the rest of the time. She'd heard of the concept of 'quality time' and rejected it utterly. It was 'quantity time' Kasumi wanted. Lots and lots of 'quantity time'. The problem being it seldom worked out that way.

Wheeling the carriage toward the restaurant, Kasumi enjoyed the beautiful fall day. People were out in droves. She exchanged polite greetings with the many people she knew. Turning a corner, she noticed a rather large man leading three children in a manner of someone who is lost, but doesn't quite know it yet. Despite the changes in appearence since they had first met, Kasumi knew immediately that it was Ryoga. The full beard he'd started since the last time they had met didn't fool her for an instant.

Hibiki Ryoga and his children were all dressed in rugged travelling clothes, bore large yet proportionate backpacks with only size and different colored bandanas to mark them as individuals. Ryoga wore his traditional bandana of yellow with black squares. Kasumi noted the children wore green with black spots, red and blue stripes and red with black triangles. Which meant that Midori (age 6), Hibari (age 5) and Akahito (age 3 1/2) respectively, had made the trip up from the Hibiki farm with their father.

Since she spotted them before they, talking amongst themselves, saw her, Kasumi got in the first words. "Ryoga, it is good to see you. Are you here for Ritsuko's party?"

"Yes we are," Ryoga said confidently in his deep voice. The depression that had once hung over him like a cloud was long gone due to the happiness that his family had created. "Akari and the twins stayed home due to some diaper rash, but she felt the rest of the horde could use a day out. And I have to admit, it's been a great day so far."

"That it is Ryoga. Kin, Chizu and I were just on our way to Ukyo's As You Like It. Would you care to join us?" One thing that hadn't changed about Ryoga were his navigational difficulties. Kasumi knew this and her offer was made as a way to save a little face for Ryoga in front of his family.

"Told ya we was going the wrong way," Midori muttered to her siblings. They knew their dad was helpless without his GPS. Sometimes even with it as the day, and prior days, had proved. Midori also knew a face saving guesture when she heard it, even though she personally referred to them as 'Let's not make Daddy look stupid. Cause he's not. Even if he gets lost inside the house sometimes.'

"Thanks," Ryoga replied to Kasumi's offer. "I know Ukyo's is around here someplace, but I can't seem to find it." The ability to admit his problems were another of the formerly lost boy's many changes.

As they walked, they caught up on things. Ryoga usually came to Nerima only three or four times a year. There was more to say than time to say it.

"What's the lastest on Nabiki?" Ryoga asked.

Kasumi debated internally for a moment before answering. Her little sister had finished college in America and then proceded to do there some of the things she'd done in Nerima. Which backfired immediately and nearly fatally. "She still has five years to serve on her blackmail conviction. Then she'll get deported back here."

"No chance of parole?"

"She'd have to admit guilt first and last I heard, she refuses to do that."

"She wasn't just found guilty. She was guilty. I saw the evidence."

"I did not know you got that lost anymore," Kasumi observed with something approaching sarcasm. The question, 'How on Earth did you see any evidence?' was clearly implied, if not actually stated.

Ryoga shrugged. "Battery goes dead in my GPS transponder while I'm down at the loading docks in Kobe earning some extra money. Next thing I know, I'm on a boat to San Francisco. Then I'm wandering around trying to find the Japanese consulate when I stumble into Nabiki's courtroom during the prosecutor's summation. When she sees me, your sister gets hysterical."

"Why on earth would she do that?" Kasumi asked. Ryoga's story was all news to her. Why hadn't she heard this before?

"I don't know. Guilty conscience? Or maybe she thought I was there to break her out. Kami knows it would have been easy enough. But anyway, Nabiki spazzes out. I get drug off to the judge's chambers with an interpreter. Voluntarily mind you, because these guys were so pathetic that Midori, Ranko, Ritsuko and Hibari coulda taken them out. They ask me what I'm doing there, I say I'm trying to get back to Japan. They ask how I know 'the defendant' and I tell them... well, not the whole truth, because they'd never believe _that_, but enough. The prosecutor wants to call me as a witness, Nabiki's lawyer objects and the judge agrees with him. But during the whole thing I got to look at some of the evidence. Typical Nabiki. She took some pictures and demanded money to not publish them. Instead of paying off, the victim called the cops and had her arrested. As far as I'm concerned, she had a lot of nerve pleading 'Not Guilty' in the first place."

Kasumi digested Ryoga's story as they walked toward their goal. The new data didn't contradict anything her sister had deigned to mention about the incident. But it still bothered her. She eventually admitted, "Ryoga, I love my sister, but I do not love what she has done with her life. In Nerima, she got away with so much for so long that I honestly believe she doesn't think what she did was wrong."

Ryoga remained quiet for a dozen steps until he said, "True enough I guess. I mean... How can I say this? I wasn't surprised that it happened, just that I was there when it did."

Kasumi nodded in agreement. "Let us put the past aside. You said you wanted to hear what was new. Her physical therapy seems to be working. She doesn't need a cane to walk anymore."

"That's lots better than the wheelchair she was in when I saw her. So how are Ranko and Kenichi?"

-----

It was clear to anyone with empathy or sense that Kenichi did not like his grandmother. This of course meant that Nodoka had no clue. He'd heard enough stories from and about his parents to know that Grandma was a little touched in the head. Pretty bright for someone not quite four years old.

The fact that other people considered her smothering, overbearing, frequently annoying and/or dangerous did not register in Nodoka's mind. She was incapable of realizing that she was more tolerated than loved. But when Ranma, Kenichi and Mousse made it to Ukyo's As You Like it, they'd arrived after Konatsu, Akane and Ranko and before anyone else.

Ranma joined his wife and Ukyo. Mousse began assisting Konatsu with the decorations and other party set up chores. Ranko and Ritsuko were already playing in the latter's room. Which left Nodoka to entertain, or to be entertained by, the youngest Tendo.

Who was none to thrilled by the situation.

"And how is Grammy's precious little man today?" Nodoka asked in tones more suited for an infant than a bright child three months short of his fourth birthday.

"Fine," Kenichi said sullenly. Maybe if he was quiet, Grandma would leave him alone.

No such luck. "Oh, you can tell Grammy more than that. How will you grow up to be a man among men like your father if you don't talk to people?"

"I'm fine Grandma." As short a response as Kenichi thought he could get away with. Although he was becoming less fine with each passing second.

"Oh come now," Nodoka said as she made the critical mistake of picking up a child that did not want to be picked up.

"Leggoame! Leggoame!" Kenichi shouted loudly enough to draw attention from the other five adults in the building. When Nodoka didn't immediately comply, Kenichi start twisting violently in her arms. Kenichi wasn't allowed to hit girls unless he was sparring, so more active means of resistance were unavailable.

"Mom, put him down!" Ranma stated forcefully from the doorway between the dining area and the kitchen.

Nodoka would have put him down had Kenichi not shaken himself loose and fallen less than half a meter to the floor. As soon as he had both feet under him, he sprung like a jackrabbit to a table well out of his grandmother's reach. It was also not in a direct line between his father and a potential target. Some habits got ingrained early in the Tendo-Saotome household.

Ranma vaulted the counter to land within arm's length of his mother. He quietly but firmly said, "You. Me. Upstairs. Now."

Shocked at her son's forcefulness, Nodoka agreed to his request.

When they returned five minutes later, Ranma was trying to hide a frown and Nodoka was nearly rigid in her self possession. By this time Ryoga, Kasumi and five small children had arrived. Kenichi was glad that Akahito had come. It was good to have a boy his own age to play with. The encounter with his grandmother had already been forgotten.

Kasumi put her own two daughters down for a nap in Ritsuko's bed. The other children were too wired to sleep. Nodoka agreed to watch over Kin and Chizu. The other children ate candied rice balls to tide them over until dinner but were starting to get a serious case of the fidgets. Unfortunately, Ritsuko's birthday cake hadn't cooled quite enough to decorate and dinner itself was still in the early preparation stage. Time for Plan 'A'.

"Mousse, could you and Ranma take the kids over to the park for about an hour and a half?" Ukyo asked.

Mousse glanced at Ranma, who shrugged, and replied, "Sure thing Ukyo."

"What about me?" Ryoga asked no one in particular.

"You don't go anywhere without escort," Ukyo deadpanned before she added knowingly, "Besides, I've got a job for you Mr. Muscles."

"OK! Everybody join hands. We're going to the park!" Mousse exclaimed to the children. They way he said it made the kids feel that going to the park was the greatest thing in the world.

"Yay, Uncle Mousse! Yay!" they shouted, led by Ritsuko, as they linked up.

As Ryoga watched his children and three others happily proceed from the restaurant, he wished he could have joined Ranma and Mousse.


	3. Making a First Move and Other Stuff

Chapter 3: Making a First Move and Other Stuff

Mousse sat down to watch the children scurry around the playground equipment. Rummaging around in his voluminous sleeves, he pulled out two beers, handing one to his former rival and current friend. "You know Tendo, there are times I wish you'd turned Kuonji down," Mousse said quietly.

"Maybe you should tell Ukyo that," Ranma replied as he opened his bottle.

"Oh, I've thought about it... once or twice... when I was drunk enough. But I wouldn't undo Ritsuko just to have a child of my own. She's a great kid, and maybe the closest thing I'll ever have to a daughter."

Ranma didn't respond. Mousse's actions since Ritsuko's birth more than supported the claim.

"Maybe I'd have been a lousy father," Mousse said as he opened his own bottle and took a swallow of beer.

"Mousse, one thing I've learned is you can't beat yourself up over might have beens. Even with the Nanban Mirror, the past is the past."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Mousse answered seriously.

"Whatever," Ranma said dismissively. "But the future... You've got some say over what happens in the future. You do stuff now to get the results you want down the road."

"Easy to say Tendo. It's not quite that easy to do."

They sat quietly for a moment, occasionally remembering the bottles in their hands and drinking from them. Both were content to sit silently and let the half dozen children they had brought play with the other kids present. There were quite a few of them, the park was crowded due to the nice weather. A surprising number of men were there. Some having picnics with wives or girlfriends. Some trying desperately to connect with children they saw far too little of. Some of those failing. More, fortunately successful.

Among the cries of joy and shrieks of happiness, there was the occasional sour note. A boy, aged seven or eight, was lording it over a group of younger children in the sandbox, stomping the small mounds that preschool imagination had turned into hills for their toy trucks. The bully kicked over a dump truck and when its owner jumped up in protest, the older lad shoved the complainer down to fall in the sand.

"You figure they'd know better than to try that here," Mousse said quietly.

Ranma shrugged in response. "There's always somebody that don't get the message. Probably new in town. Five, four, three, two, one..."

Ranko and Ritsuko lashed out with synchronized round kicks, knocking the would be bully from the sandbox.

"Good form," Mousse murmured as he stood up.

"Damn straight," Ranma agreed as Mousse pulled him to his feet. From where he stood, he could see his eldest child stare down the bully. She looked as if she wanted an excuse to continue fighting. "Only problem with Ranko is there are times she doesn't know when to stop."

Ranma merely flashed his 'City of Nerima: Police Special Auxiliary' badge when the bully's father attempted to make an issue of the 'vicious attack' launched by Ritsuko and Ranko. The inherent Japanese respect for authority asserted itself and things were concluded peacefully with a few apologies.

Returning to their previous spot, Mousse asked, "You've still got your badge? They made me turn in mine after we nailed Rakkosai."

"That's cause you don't live in Nerima. Let's see: Two rampaging girl androids last month, an alien landing that didn't make the news the month before and a run in with Pantyhose Taro, sorry, 'Chon Wang', in monster form the month before that."

"What did he want?" Mousse had been cured of his Jusenkyo curse. So had Ranma, Genma and Ryoga. When asked if he wanted cured, Chon Wang, formerly known as Pantyhose Taro, laughed loud and long before declining.

"Just a publicity stunt for his last movie."

"Why bother? I mean, did you see his co-star? Who need stunts with her on the talk show circuit? Serious grade A babe that one."

Ranma stared at his friend. "Who are ya and what have ya done with Mousse?" he asked mockingly.

"Huh?"

"You never notice women."

"Not true. I notice them just fine, I just don't chase them."

"So you just let them chase you then?"

"Most women around here won't give me a second glance just because I'm Chinese, let alone chase me," Mousse said bitterly. He shuddered before adding, "Whoa. Just had a Shiratori Azusa flashback."

Over the years, Ranma learned verbal combat techniques to go with his physical ones. They were very useful for dealing with problems that couldn't be solved by hitting someone until they fell down. Like friends. "Women worth getting serious about wouldn't hold that against you."

"Name one."

Ranma nerved himself up and said, "You know, you and Ukyo might make a good couple."

"You think I should ask her out," Mousse replied. It wasn't exactly a question.

"I've thought that for years," Ranma admitted before adding, "Akane does too. The worst that can happen is that she'll say 'no'."

"No Ranma, the worst thing that can happen is she bashes me upside the head with that giant spatula of hers, then tells me to get lost and never darken her door again. 'No' would be significantly better than that."

"I think you're safe from the spatula Mousse. I mean, I've seen her turn down guys before. Tsubasa's the only one she's ever hospitalized."

"I have no desire to test that. Anyway, I'm not the amazing Tendo Ranma. For you, women say 'yes' without even knowing what the question is."

Ranma chuckled in acknowledgement before taking another pull from his beer.

"I haven't been on a real date since me and Kimi broke up," Mousse admitted suddenly.

"You ask anyone since then?"

"No," Mousse reluctantly conceded. His long infatuation, or perhaps 'blind obsession', with Shampoo made it difficult for him to deal with other women. When Ukyo put him on the list of potential donors for the pregnancy where she had Ritsuko, it had opened him up to the concept that there just might be other women out there for him.

Eventually, he agreed to a date with one of the waitresses where he worked. The unmitigated disaster which followed sufficed to scare Mousse away from the very concept of dating for a long time. His limited experiences after that were... disappointing. Until Kimi.

That relationship lasted long enough for Mousse to consider it 'serious'. But Kimi's parents had been adamantly opposed to their daughter dating a foreigner. Forced to choose between her family and Mousse, she chose family and broke the former Amazon's heart. Mousse hadn't asked a woman out since.

But it had been long enough. And he liked Ukyo. And adored Ritsuko. And dammit, it had been long enough and it was time he did something about it. "Ranma, you think you can handle getting the kids back to Ukyo's? I need to pick up something for my magic act."

"Sure thing. But don't take too long. You're up after Konatsu's ninja puppet show."

-----

"How many times must I kill you foul ninja!" Konatsu shouted in a gruff voice while manipulating the samurai marionette dangling from his left hand. The puppet bore a slight resemblance to Kuno Tatewaki that the children didn't notice, but the adults who were watching did. Using a foot pedal, he jiggled the puppet representing the captured princess.

"Only once foolish samurai! But that you shall never do!" the former kunoichi answered in his normal speaking voice. The ninja puppet was dressed in the classic style, but was clearly meant to be Konatsu himself. "Your evil lord is already dead at my hands. Release the princess and I shall allow you to live."

"You fiend! Without Lord Hebe, I am nothing. To join my lord in death is only fitting. But I shall see you fall first!" the gruffed voiced samurai puppet said before charging across the stage.

How Konatsu ran the fight scene that followed without tangling anything was another ninja mystery as far the audience was concerned. Good triumphed over evil and when Konatsu told a story, ninjas were definitely good. Dropping a smoke pellet to cover a scene change, he continued his tale.

The princess' voice was done in falsetto by Konatsu. "Oh brave ninja! Thank you for rescuing me from marriage to the Lord of the West."

"It was but my duty milady."

"Is that all I am to you? Just another task to perform? Is your heart a stone?" The early part of the story made it clear how much the ninja loved the princess, but that their respective stations in life made any sort of relationship impossible.

The ninja puppet turned away and lowered his head. "A ninja deals with only duty and death. Love is foreign to us."

"Why must that be so?"

Konatsu took a dramatic pause before having the ninja puppet turn to the princess and answer, "Why indeed?" The two puppets embraced to the applause of the young crowd. Another smoke pellet was dropped and when it dissipated, Konatsu sat on the stage with both puppets on his lap to renewed clapping. One bow from him and his puppets later, a final smoke pellet covered his departure from the stage.

Once the final wisps of smoke dissipated, Ryoga, in his role as stage manager/human forklift, manhandled the puppeteering stage from the space that had been cleared for the various performances. Mousse waited in the wings, making coins appear and disappear in his nimble fingers while Konatsu packed his puppets away. A short distance away, the two were being discussed in oblique terms.

"What a polite young man. I'm surprised some eligible young lady, such as yourself, hasn't snatched him up before this," Nodoka said.

Ukyo carefully did not frown as she replied, "You do know that Konatsu still crossdresses. Most women don't find that too attractive." A brief prayer that Genma would return and take his wife off Ukyo's own hands went unanswered.

"Oh, that's just a little harmless eccentricity." Nodoka dismissed Ukyo's statement with a wave. "It's not like he is a foreigner or otherwise unacceptable."

-----

"All right everybody! It's MAGIC time!" Mousse cried professionally. He had the full attention of his audience. Some of whom were treating it as a chance to pick up techniques and not just as entertainment.

After some simple misdirection and prestidigitation, Mousse flashily shrugged his shoulders to flare the oversized sleeves of the robe he wore. "Something up my sleeve..." A comment that got a few knowing giggles. "Presto!" Mousse pulled out a oblong box, wrapped in shiny blue paper and set it in front of Ukyo's daughter. "Happy Birthday Ritsuko." It joined the fairly large pile of birthday gifts already there.

After returning to his stage, Mousse smirked knowingly. "I know what you're thinking. With sleeves this big, I could be hiding just about anything in there. Like this..." A beach ball appeared, which he tossed in the general direction of his audience. "Or this..." A bucket of sand placed in front of him. "Maybe these..." Two brightly colored beach towels that he whirled around for a few seconds before they floated down on either side of the bucket of sand. "And this..." A folding chair which he comically wrestled with for a bit before snapping it open and setting it behind the beach towels. "Not to mention this." A furled beach umbrella, a good five feet long, emerged from his sleeves. Using it as a staff, he flashed his way through a kata to the applause of Ritsuko and others. Finally, he popped it open and stabbed it into the bucket of sand. With a backflip and twist, he landed in the beach chair, snapping his wrist forward to reveal a pair of sunglasses that he very suavely placed on his head. The smile he wore was contagious.

"Well gosh, I guess I can hide just about anything in there. So I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. Let's make the rest of this show interesting." With those words, Mousse stood, crossed his arms and ripped the (carefully prepared in advance) sleeves from his robe, dropping them with an audible thud.

Pushing his Hidden Weapons techniques beyond anything he used for a normal audience, Mousse gave a performance to remember. Once the last trick was over, after he'd taken his bows and received his applause, Mousse drifted back to the kitchen and pulled a beer from the fridge. Entertaining children was hard work, but there was one more performance to make and he wanted to settle his nerves first. Asking out Ukyo, after all the years he'd known her, wasn't going to be easy.

-----

"Let's see, after the obligatory fights, it's cake and ice cream, the opening of presents and then we're pretty much done," Ukyo said cheerfully. "Except for cleaning up of course." Both could hear Ranko and Midori engage in a closely supervised spar. Hibari and Ritsuko were due up after them.

"Ooh, yeah. I forgot to mention: You might want to vet my mother-in-law's presents," Akane said quietly as she helped carry the dinner dishes to the sink. "She can be a little..."

"Over the top?" Ukyo offered. "Extravagant? Outrageous? Excessive?" she added when Akane didn't continue.

"Weird," Akane finally finished. "Ranma and I keep an eye on what she gets Ranko and Kenichi."

Ukyo asked the obvious question. "Why?"

"She got Kenichi a 'Girls Gone Wild: Okinawa' DVD for his third birthday."

"Oh my," Ukyo replied. "She's still doing the 'man among men' thing? Which means her idea of a 'woman among women' is probably a Ginza girl. Excuse me." With those words, Ukyo went to seek out her daughter's grandmother.

-----

"Well, I received a post-card from my husband. He's due back with the Ysuchiyas and that Chinese boy, Jiang... something or other, next Friday. Then the school will hold it's own mini-tournament to pick representatives for the City-Wide tourney in October," Nodoka babbled to Tofu-Sensei.

Kasumi listened with only half an ear. It wasn't necessarily polite to do so, but she'd already heard everything Ranma's mother had said at least twice by then. As her husband mouthed polite agreements, she waited for the older woman to either run out of steam or find another victim. There was another conversation that she would have much rather have been a part.

After the cake and ice cream, after the opening of presents, after the Hibiki's had left for the train station in the company of Konatsu, something unexpected had happened. Mousse pulled a bouquet of flowers from his sleeve and asked Ukyo on a date. Who in turn got into something vaguely resembling an argument with Mousse, Akane and Ranma over it without managing to answer 'yes' or 'no'. Ukyo wasn't just her boss, she was also Kasumi's friend. It felt rather vexing to be stuck with Nodoka as opposed to standing with Ukyo.

She'd just have to eavesdrop as best she could.

"Just because I turned 25 this year does not make me an old maid," Ukyo said firmly.

"Nobody's saying your old. We just want to you to be happy," Ranma replied placatingly.

"I am happy," Ukyo stated in a tone that dared anyone present to correct her.

After a few seconds, Akane calmly said, "We never said you weren't Ukyo. But could at least think about it? You going on a date will not cause the world to end."

Ukyo paused momentarily, rolled her eyes briefly and replied, "OK, I've thought about it. Happy now?"

"Only if you give me a straight answer," Mousse put in. "You still haven't done that yet."

Ukyo jerked like a hooked fish. In nearly ten minutes of discussion, she had never answered the original question. She thought she had. She'd thought she'd made it clear years earlier that she wasn't interested in dating. But she realized she hadn't actually said 'no' before dragging Ranma and Akane into the conversation.

She carefully looked at Mousse's face. There was no condescension there. No pity. This wasn't a joke or a whim on his part. It was an honest request made by a man she felt certain would rather get hit by a bus before hurting her or Ritsuko. A good man. A man who deserved an answer.

"Sure. Why not? Next Saturday night good for you?"


	4. A First Date and Other Stuff

Chapter 4: First Date and Other Stuff

In their own way, they made a rather odd couple. A single mother and restaurateur who had never seriously dated in her life going out with a man she'd once selected as good enough to be the father of her child. Looked at from the other side, some might say it was a young man asking out a woman he'd known nearly a decade before seriously considering her as a potential romantic partner.

"Actually, I was afraid you were going to take me to that weird wax museum you like so much," Ukyo said as Mousse held her chair in the dimly lit restaurant.

"I can do a bit better than that these days," he replied as she slid her chair into place. Taking his own seat, he added, "Besides, I don't really think it's appropriate for a first date."

"You used to."

Mousse snorted in acknowledgement and picked up his menu. Quiet piano music, nothing either of them recognized, lent a sophisticated air to the proceedings. Ukyo was still deciding on a main course when the wine steward, slightly smarmy with false politeness, approached their table.

"Would Monsieur care to see the wine list?" he asked with a mock French accent.

"Monsieur would not," Mousse stated with just a hint of 'edge' in his voice. "Monsieur does not drink spoiled grape juice."

The steward covered his disapproval and turned to Ukyo. "And you Mademoiselle?"

"Thank you, but no," she replied. Ukyo had been truly drunk only once in her life. Finding she didn't like the results, she had quietly avoided alcohol ever since.

The man bowed politely and departed, silently signaling a waiter to take their order. On the plus side, they'd be able to turn the table over faster. On the minus, tipsy or drunk customers were far easier to overcharge.

After getting the soup, fish and salad courses settled quickly enough, the waiter was having problems getting the young man to decide on a main course. His rather attractive date had already chosen the roast quail with asparagus tips and wild rice stuffing with mushrooms. "If you're having trouble deciding, our chef makes a wonderful 'Duc a la Orange' an-"

Mousse stood instantly, knocking his chair over behind him. He held the waiter at arm's length by his shirt front a good thirty centimeters off the floor. Before he focused enough to say or do anything else, Ukyo stood, slid around the table in a move used countless times in her own restaurant, and put her hand on Mousse's other arm. "He doesn't know. He doesn't know. Mousse, he doesn't know." She repeated herself until she was certain that the former part-time duck understood her.

As the tension drained from Mousse's body, the waiter returned to the floor, scrambling away as quickly as possible. The headwaiter, rushing up without seeming to hurry, calmly asked the group at large, "Is there a problem?" Every eye in the place was on them.

"My friend doesn't eat duck," Ukyo answered.

In the background, a waiter whispered 'Nerima Wrecking Crew' to a badly frightened co-worker. Eyes bugged wide, the young man nearly fainted, swaying before bracing himself against a wall.

The headwaiter, belatedly informed of just who had entered his domain, knew the danger his establishment was in and forged ahead gamely anyway. "Be that as it may, perhaps Monsieur could have found a less demonstrative way of indicating his displeasure?"

Mousse apologized gracefully, humbly and at great length to the headwaiter before repeating his performance on the young man who had unknowingly pressed one of his major buttons. The other diners returned to their own overpriced food, the expected carnage having failed to materialize. After reseating Ukyo, Mousse ordered a peppercorn steak, primarily just to get rid of the nervous waiter, who looked like he might collapse at any second. Dessert choices would wait until later.

After some apologies on Mousse's part, very little was said as the two finished their onion soup. Mousse was too twitchy to make light conversation and Ukyo didn't feel like pressing the matter. The soup was good enough that neither worried about the silence.

Mousse finally broke the ice during the fish course. "Have I mentioned how nice you look tonight?" he asked.

Ukyo smiled, nodded and replied, "I figure the way you said 'Wow' when I opened the door back at 'Ukyo's' pretty much took care of that."

"I said that out loud?"

"Yes." Her mind drifted back to date preparations...

-----

"What am I going to wear?" Ukyo said for at least the fiftieth time in the last hour. Behind her, Ritsuko was giggling at her mother's distress while Kasumi and Akane exchanged knowing glances. Clothing, almost every piece of clothing Ukyo owned, was strewn about the room, covering every available surface.

"Ukyo, calm down," Kasumi said. Although as calm as her outer self was, her inner self was screaming, 'It's not me, it's not me!' in hysterical relief.

"Calm down? Calm down! How can I calm down? This is like my first real date ever and you want me to calm down? I'm sorry, but this is major panic time!"

"Onee-chan is right Ukyo," Akane replied. "You need to calm down." Her inner self was also screaming 'It's not me, it's not me!'

Ukyo stared daggers at her friends and continued to root through the few remaining items in her closet. "You are not helping," she accused.

Kasumi felt she'd had enough fun and decided to let Ukyo off the hook. "Before you work yourself to death deciding what to wear on a date that won't take place until tomorrow, shouldn't you know where you are going first?"

Ukyo paused in with hangers in both hands. "Ack! You're making it worse. What if he takes me somewhere I should wear a kimono and I'm in a dress? Or what if we go hiking and I'm wearing high heels? I have no idea where Mousse is taking me!"

-----

"Where should I take Ukyo?" Mousse asked as he launched half a dozen punches at Ranma's midsection.

Dodging reflexively, Ranma answered, "Stick with tradition. Take her to a fancy restaurant followed by a movie."

Blocking a kick to his forehead, Mousse replied, "Thanks."

The east wall of the dojo broke apart in a shower of splinters to reveal a slender man dressed in tight red pants and poofy white shirt. Leaving his boot clad right foot chest high until he was certain he'd been noticed, he strode into the dojo with arrogance seeping from every pore. "I, Lazar Alverago Javier Aguinaldo y Zapeta, Master of Anything Goes Martial Arts Flamenco Dancing, do hereby challenge you!"

The Iron Duke's metal clad fist shot out, rendering the dancer unconscious. "Wait your damn turn." He wanted to hear more about the proposed date between Mousse and Ukyo.

-----

Before she completely freaked out, Akane gathered Ukyo's twitching hands into her own and said, "Why don't you just ask him?"

"I can do that?"

After learning that the date was to consist of dinner at a French restaurant followed by a movie, Ukyo, Akane and Kasumi triaged the okonomiyaki chef's wardrobe down to suitable choices with occasional input from Ritsuko.

"How about this one?" Ukyo said while holding up a relatively short black skirt with matching jacket.

"No, no. That's 'dinner and clubbing', not 'dinner and a movie'," Kasumi observed with Akane nodding agreement.

"I still like the red one," Ritsuko said while pointing at the longer, sleeveless, dress in question. The color matched Ranma's ubiquitous Chinese tangs and was one Ukyo had never actually worn, having bought it when she'd still been treating Ranma as her fiance instead of as her friend.

"Don't you start on me kiddo," Ukyo said. She'd originally bought it for the color and not worn it for the same reason. Some parts of her past still bothered her and that occasionally manifested in odd ways.

"I think Ritsuko-chan is right," Kasumi said. "Besides, you paid for it, you might as well get some use out of it."

"Assuming it still fits," Akane added. "That dress is what? Eight or nine years old?"

Not realizing Akane had said that expressly to tweak Ukyo into putting it on to prove her wrong, Ukyo shooed everyone else out of the room and changed clothes. When they were allowed to return, Ritsuko made the first comment. "You look really pretty mama-san."

The next day, after dressing and having Kasumi apply light make-up, Mousse opened the door to find Ukyo unlike he'd ever expected. "Wow." True classics never go out of style.

-----

"Well, I hope I didn't embarrass myself too much there," Mousse said, breaking into Ukyo's reverie.

After a moment to regain her mental bearings, she replied, "Not really. I guess I'm glad I could surprise you like that."

"It wasn't really a surprise. I mean, you always look good, but..." Mousse trailed off before he stuck his foot any further into his mouth.

"Not what you were expecting?"

After taking a moment to think of an appropriately witty response, Mousse gave up and stated, "Yeah."

Dinner proceeded to its conclusion of vanilla cheesecake and coffee without incidents of note. After Mousse paid the sizable check, he very properly escorted his date from the restaurant for the ten minute walk to the movie theater. Not feeling quite confident enough to take her to anything excessively romantic, he figured the latest action flick imported from Hong Kong would be acceptable. Unless of course, there was something Ukyo specifically wanted to see.

-----

Ukyo was grateful for the chance to stretch her legs. Distracted by the high quality of the food, she'd ate more than she'd intended. Except for the incident with the waiter, and she understood that, Mousse had been a perfect gentleman. Not that he wasn't a nice guy anyway, but it still felt as if he were trying too hard. She wondered what she could do to get him to lighten up.

As they walked, Mousse scanned the area looking for potential problems, a habit ingrained from long necessity. Not that it always helped, but there were times that extra split second came in handy. Catching a glimpse of, and a wink from, Konatsu while Ukyo was looking in a jewelry store window, Mousse realized that their friends were watching over them. Neither relaxing or resenting any possible implication that they couldn't handle any problems themselves, Mousse continued his observations. He knew there were times crap happened no matter how hard people tried to prevent it.

Arriving safely at the theater, due to some interesting behind the scenes efforts on various parts, Mousse offered to let Ukyo pick the movie but she lobbed the choice right back at him. A light-hearted argument about a woman's inability to make a simple decision took place. Mousse thought some of Ukyo's barbs about men (he and Ranma) having similar problems were particularly witty.

It wasn't until they spotted the readily identifiable forms of Saotome Nodoka being led away from them, in a dignified yet forceful manner by her newly returned husband Genma, that they quickly compromised on a screwball comedy that turned out almost as strange as their own lives.

-----

"Oh look, Kano-chan's still cleaning up," Mousse observed wryly once they returned to 'Ukyo's As You Like It'.

"Clearly a ploy on her part to find out how tonight went, given that she's supposed to be upstairs babysitting Ritsuko," Ukyo acknowledged. "So how did tonight go?"

After a brief delay caused by the desire to be honest, Mousse replied, "Maybe not as good as it could have been, but I think it well enough."

"Me too. Under normal circumstances I'm supposed to invite you in for coffee, but not with Joji here. I think we've been watched enough tonight."

"You too?"

"How many did you spot?" Ukyo asked as she unlocked the door to her closed restaurant. "Other than obvious ones."

"I saw Kanzen once, but I'm pretty sure he let me," Mousse admitted.

Ukyo nodded and said, "I caught Ranma in a mirror when we were getting popcorn. I don't think he noticed me noticing him."

"It's not like we told them to back off."

"Or that they would have if we _had_ asked."

Mouse snorted in amusement and smiled. "Well, I hope you had fun tonight anyway." In a raised voice he added, "_Even if there was an audience._" Carefully hidden observers had the decency to blush.

Perhaps mindful of those hiding in the shadows, Ukyo leaned forward on tiptoes to kiss Mousse on the cheek with him bending down slightly to return the kiss. After a few 'good night's and 'see you later's, Mousse turned and walked away slowly. It wasn't until he was out of sight from the restaurant that he began to relax.

As Ukyo entered her home and place of business, Kano Joji stared at her boss with a look that clearly screamed "Well?" without the actual need to say anything.

"Mousse was a perfect gentleman."

"And that came as a surprise?" Joji asked as she finished putting the chairs up in preparation to clean the floor. Knowing her employer's friends, she could guess what would have happened if he hadn't been.

"No, but I'm not sure I want a perfect gentleman. Should I be upset or relieved that he didn't make a pass?"

After laughing, which Ukyo noted was not an answer, Joji said, "Give him a break boss. You can't judge the potential of a relationship by the first date. Well, you can, but you shouldn't. If I had with Ichiro, we wouldn't be engaged, let alone gone on a second date."

Ukyo shuddered at the mere mention of the event. "I remember that particular disaster, thank you very much."

"And despite that, we both gave each other a second chance..."

"Six months later," Ukyo interrupted.

"Six months later," Joji admitted, continuing, "but we finally realized what we were to each other."

"Soulmates?" Ukyo asked jokingly.

A brief frown flitted across Joji's face before she answered, "Friends. Such good friends that as long as we're right with each other, the rest of the world, even you and Tendo-sensei," naming the two people on Earth she and her fiance looked up to the most, "can go hang."

The answer floored Ukyo as badly as an unblocked haymaker from Ryoga. Mind and body on auto-pilot, she helped finish cleaning the restaurant, paid Joji for babysitting, checked in on her sleeping daughter and prepared for bed.

'I have friends,' she thought as she crawled into bed. 'Damn good ones. People I've been to the wall for and that've done the same for me. People like Ranma and Akane and Kasumi and Konatsu. So why is what Joji-chan said bugging me so much?'

She had no answer by the time sleep claimed her.


End file.
